Parent education program

A parent education program is a course that can be followed to correct and improve a person's parenting skills. Such courses may be general, covering the most common issues parents may encounter, or specific, for infants, toddlers, children and teenagers. These courses may also be geared towards parents who are considering having a child, or adopting one, or are pregnant. Some parent education programs are:
Parent Effectiveness Training is based on person centered psychotherapy. Systematic Training for Effective Parenting (STEP) is based on individual psychology.

Parenting education and support has always existed (e. g. through informal kinship and family networks), but formal recognition of the need to support parents was established through the International Year of the Family in 1994. In understanding the history of parenting programmes, it is necessary to highlight two global shifts. The first relates to significant changes in family structure, where extended, tribal or community family models have given way to more nuclear – and, in some societies, absent parent – family models (e. g. due to conflict, disease and natural disasters). The second shift involves demands on families due to societal changes in areas including employment, inequity in incomes, exposure to disease and modern influences such as drug use, technology and urbanization. These changes have made clear the need for support for parents or their surrogates. As traditional structures dissipate and new parenting challenges arise, concerted efforts are required to assist parents in fulfilling their role.

There are two broad categories of parenting programmes. Parent education and support programmes not only include services that help parents in their role but may also include information on other aspects (e. g. job training or adult literacy). Parenting support programmes are those that are focused primarily on parenting. These two types are differentiated because of their implications for policy and establishing appropriate entry points for service provision. For example, social protection, health care and cash transfer programmes could provide an entry point for parent education and support programmes. The landscape of parenting programmes is quite complex and can be differentiated on several dimensions that have been associated with child outcomes. The variety and complexity of these services and challenges in the identification of effective parenting models are highlighted below. while others focus on early education and learning. There are also programmes centred around the reduction of harsh parenting and violence at home, and a range of programmes that have more comprehensive or integrated designs, for example, the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) – Care for Development. There is also a set of programmes in which parenting, although addressed, is not the primary focus (e. g. social protection, cash transfer programmes or adult literacy programmes). while multi generational programmes either serve the parent and the child or the entire family. but others are designed for parents with children from 3 upwards. Typically, programmes that focus on the younger age group have a health, nutrition and/or stimulation focus and those for older children have a social, learning and education focus. some clinic based, and others community based. However, given issues of low technical capacity and limited resources, most programmes use paraprofessionals or community workers. Depending on the type of programme, the credentials and training of the service provider and supervision practices are critical to improving its quality. while others use a group discussion format. They may use one or multiple delivery mechanisms. For example, a very common combination is home based services and media in the form of posters and brochures or radio announcements. All programmes report substantial positive outcomes for children (e. g. cognitive, social and emotional development) and two of the programmes report significant improvements in adult parenting knowledge and the home environment. There are also some interesting patterns to the results that have important implications for future programme design. First, the findings suggest that programmes that employ more than one delivery mechanism are more effective than those that rely on a single mechanism, and programmes that address the parent and child (i. e. two generation programmes) are more effective than those that only focus on the parent. The effects of the evaluated programmes were also stronger among younger children; this result demonstrates support for the hypothesis that earlier intervention yields better outcomes. Also, results were stronger for poorer children when compared with their wealthier peers; this finding validates previous work on programmes impact and disadvantage. A 2016 Cochrane systematic review of group based parent training programs for improving emotional and behavioral adjustment in young children found tentative support for their short term effectiveness. Finally, some interventions improve parenting practices even when their primary focus is not parenting. For instance, social protection conditional cash transfer programmes that combine cash and parenting services have demonstrable impact on parenting knowledge and practice. These evaluations, predominantly from Latin America, are important because they address parenting directly through support and education but also indirectly by altering a family’s poverty status – a contextual influence on parenting. Adult and family literacy programmes have also demonstrated a positive impact on parent and child outcomes. These results are not unexpected given the established link between maternal education and child health and development outcomes. The shift will allow for multiple sectors to provide a coordinated focus on the institution of ‘family’ in a cohesive manner. Family intervention programmes, although primarily from high income countries, have been very effective in improving well being in a service and cost effective manner.